To think the RAF shouldn't do this

[concernedforthefuture]

I was rudely awoken at around 3am this morning by an RAF plane flying fast and low (c 600ft) above my house. I honestly thought it was coming down; it was so loud and scared the shit out of all of us.
I appreciate the need for training but... IT WAS 3 O'CLOCK in the morning??! We live a long way (150 ish miles) from Brize Norton where this plane came from (and indeed we aren't close to any airport / airfield), so low flying aircraft sounds are very unusual.

AIBU to think they should fly low elsewhere at night (like out at sea )? I probably am, but fancied a moan as I'm very tired this morning.

[Fuss]

Not military, but many many years ago, before flight radar and the like, I heard a plane.
We were on a flight path from Manchester so 747's going over was usual, this however was incredibly low. The elevation of our house was such that you could see for miles and I stood on our front balcony looking at a 747 banking in front of me. The stink of aviation fuel was everywhere and I was absolutely convinced it was about to come down in the field beyond. It was so low you could make out the silhouettes of people in the windows.

Fortunately it seemed to lift again and head back towards the airport. By now most of the street were out watching. Instantly put the local radio on expecting to hear why but nothing. Never found out what had happened. Assume some emergency was turning it around.

One of those things that stays with me, just the stench of aviation fuel and the sinking dread that it was about to crash.

[PrimeroseHillAnnie]

I live near Heathrow and I miss the aeroplanes.

[iVampire]

If you want to fly I would like to see it more remote areas

So kind of like where the OP says she lives??

[backinthebox]

@Lockheart, I think you misunderstood the bit that says there are 3 TTA (Tactical training areas) in the UK. The RAF can train anywhere they want at low level as long as it complies with the airspace regulations for the airspace they wish to fly through. The TTAs publish a timetable but they can go anywhere really. My sister up north gets jets over her house, I live in the south of England and am on a helicopter low level training route - the chinooks make a racket when they come over at 50ft at 2am!

There is a lot of guessing and misinformation about what the military and other aircraft get up to on this thread.

[OldQueen1969]

I enjoyed that piece of writing about the Eurofighter - and I totally understand the OP - being woken by loud noises in the middle of the night is pretty discombobulating.

I live in Bournemouth and of course we have the air show which is a whole can of worms I shan't bother to whinge about because local economy bla bla bla.....

One of the first times they showed off the Euro thingy, I was doing a Saturday gig on an industrial estate on the outskirts. Suddenly there was this deafening roar that just got louder and louder and the unit I was in started to tremble a bit - it really sounded like something was coming down - I rushed outside and looked and looked but couldn't see anything but it was absolutely teeth rattling. When it had passed I checked FB and of course we were under the flight path of the local airport and said plane was on its way to its display. Took me a few minutes to still my beating heart though and one thing I do wonder about is how people who have lived in actual war zones past and present feel when these displays happen and the skies are full of military planes.

When 9/11 happened I remember being on my way home, listening to the rolling coverage in the car and the horrible feeling of wondering if more planes were going to be weaponised and where.... I have flown since and try to be rational but there's a little bit of me that grumbles if we were meant to fly we'd have evolved wings.....

[Starcup]

NIMBYism becomes NIMASism (Not In My Air Space)

😂

[midnightstar66]

This guy is currently circling over the city I live at just over 3000 feet. I just checked flight radar because of the absolute racket and it hasn't even come that close to my house. I was disappointed I couldn't see it and I can see a good distance in every direction

[notimagain]

@backinthebox

Thankyou kindly for clearing up the confusion over the TTAs..

From what some were saying I was beginning to think things had moved back from the system I knew which allowed low flying over the most of the UK, within airspace limits, and back to a version of the very old low flying system which was very very restricted and as a result a small percentage of the population living in very rural areas got overflown every 5 -10 minutes on a good day/night (great if you were a spotter, otherwise..)

[PhoneLock]

There is a lot of guessing and misinformation about what the military and other aircraft get up to on this thread.

There is. My husband took this picture of two RAF memorial flight planes flying extremely low right over the top of our house. He was up on the roof photographing some repairs at the time.

[backinthebox]

@PhoneLock awesome picture!

[NichyNoo]

A Hercules plane has been doing loops around the Wirral for the past few weeks now. Flying very low. Flight radar says it is from Brize and seems to be looping around the Wirral then up past Edinburgh, out into the sea and back again.

[Troels]

We get them from Valley Anglesey, coming down the conwy valley, but not at 3am. Earlier this week it was an low flying Osprey, lots of locals got pics of it for facebook.

[Bargainhuntbore]

I absolutely love it when they train at the Mach Loop. We get a lot training round Snowdonia esp Chinooks this week. Plus the air ambulance and search and rescue. Very good place for seeing them.

Oh but the annoying drone of the Texan dive bombing does our heads in. Local people ate trying to curb them!